The accused persons in the two separate matters, (which I will refer to as S v Shonhiwa and S v Docklands respectively) were each convicted of theft of trust property as defined in s 113 (2) of the Criminal Law (Codification and Reform) Act [ Chapter 9:13] (the “Code”). The proceedings in S v Shonhiwa were referred to a regional magistrate for scrutiny in terms of s 58 of the Magistrates Court Act [ Chapter 7 :10]. The learned regional magistrate correctly queried the propriety of the conviction and in turn sought the High Court`s intervention.
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Both matters were dealt with by the same provincial magistrate sitting at Kwekwe and the issues which exercised my mind are common to both cases.
The facts giving rise to the charges and convictions in both matters can be summarised as follows:
1. MORRISON NCUBE AND 3 ORS
All the four accused persons are juveniles attending school at Fatima High School and are in Form 4. Accused 1 is aged 17 years, accused 2, 16 years, accused 3, 17 years and accused 4, 16 years. They all pleaded guilty to the charge of contravening s 113 (1) of the Criminal...
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